In my opinion, the boldest effort is the first, but to me the face is a bit underexposed. This approach is a matter of inches; note the sides of his nose are illuminated by the two kickers, which is not what you want. A bit more light on the face would have made this a real winner. I do like the light on the hands. If you check out David Hobby's strobist.com website today, you'll see a remarkably similar composition, with more light on the face. In the second and third shots, the fact that he's looking off camera makes him appear kinda furtive. To me, the best shot is number four, followed closely by the classroom shot you posted separately.

Thanks for the suggestion. He actually liked the first one the most believe it or not! I agree the face is underexposed but that's what he wanted. Here's an attempt to brighten it up like the one on Strobist you mention.

I like the first one the most as well, but agree that the face is lacking just a bit of "pop" to really make the whole image fantastic. Definitely try re-positioning the lights (or adding a new one) to illuminate the eyes just a bit more next time around. I like the direction you were going.